Jon Liedtke joined the Morning Drive on AM800 CKLW to discuss his time at the Ambassador Bridge Blockade as one of the only members of the local media livestreaming the protest against COVID mandates for all to see, attaining well over 50,000 viewers over a three day period.
Transcript (Gemini Generated):
Leah Hanson: Yeah, and one of the people, Lisa, that happened to be down there most of the weekend watching to see whether or not that blockade would be ending, is Jon Liedtke, who is heard here on AM800 from time to time. He appears on the Dan McDonald show as part of Dan’s roundtable, heard Friday mornings between 9:00 and 10:00. Also the co-host and producer of Rose City Politics podcast. And Jon was down there doing a live feed on Twitter for much of the weekend. So Jon, now that this thing is over, what’s your, you know, your main kind of reflection, if you will, or thoughts looking back on how everything went down?
Jon Liedtke: Thanks for having me on and Happy Valentine’s Day, ladies. I want to start with that, thank you so much. You know, it was interesting looking back on it. I mean, how did this occur on Windsor streets? I was there, I spoke with people; the vast majority were not Windsorites. They weren’t from around here. But think about the economic damage that was wrought. And I know the news poll says that most people agree that there was a need to clear it out and it was cleared out, and I think that’s because Windsorites don’t stand for what occurred. Most Windsorites here agree that we need our automotive sector to be working. Who wants to see another shift shut down?
Lisa Williams: Yeah, no kidding. And it’s interesting, Jon, that you say—and I heard you say that over the weekend too—that from you basically talking to a lot of the protesters, following them on social media and their communication, that a lot of them were not, and most of them were not from this area. So because you’ve kind of had that connection and followed what they are saying to one another, what are they saying now? Are they quiet? Or are they trying to plan something else? Do you even have some sense of what’s to come that way?
Jon Liedtke: You know, the chatter is regrouping. You can listen to them on their apps that they use. They organize publicly, which is, you know, incredible—you’re playing an insurrection and you’re doing it on a public stand. But of course, the police were listening too, but not only that, people like me. And the chatter right now is trying to find a way to regroup, trying to find a way to reorganize. But of course, Windsor Police have retaken the west end. There is no doubt that they will hold it—and it’s not just Windsor Police, I’m sorry, this is OPP, RCMP, there are jurisdictional police coming into the area as well. The point being is that, you know, law enforcement will hold the area. And while people on the internet might want to try to organize and chatter about it, I just don’t see the opportunity at the moment. I think that people will be trying to get to the area and they will find that they’re not able to get to the area. They can get out of their cars, walk in, and I think police will stop them upon the way. Now that doesn’t mean that we’re always going to have this police presence, but we also know that the Premier is going to be enshrining these new emergency powers into legislation, which means that if you are trying to block critical infrastructure moving forward once the legislation is enacted, you will just be able to have your license seized, you will be able to have your vehicle seized. These are your rights because you choose to do something like that.
Leah Hanson: Um, do you think that this—and in talking to people out there, because you did, and I know I have my opinions on this—but do you think this is just strictly about the mandates, “quote-unquote”? I certainly don’t. This is all about people who just don’t want government at all in any form.
Jon Liedtke: You know, that’s an interesting question. Because absolutely, though, when you’re down there and you ask people, it is about, you know, they don’t want the restrictions. They want to go back to the way things were before COVID. I think we all want to go back to the way things were. No one’s happy about it. But you bring up a very interesting point when you get to some of the larger issues with these people. You start to realize that it’s not a cohesive group, they aren’t, you know, all aligned on the same issues. And then you start to peg down a little bit deeper and, you know, you just touched on it there. These are people who don’t like authority. These are people who believe they should have the right to just act, you know, however they want. And I’m not casting judgment on it, but you know, what I did say often over the past weekend, and the reflection that I can give today, is that this didn’t feel like a Canadian protest. This didn’t feel like it was Canada. Let me tell you what it felt like. And it was quite frankly, it was a Trump rally. That’s what it felt like being down there. It was like what we have all watched on YouTube, what we’ve seen on, you know, the news over the past five years. This was a Trump-type rally. Not saying a Trump rally, but it felt like that.
Lisa Williams: Yeah. So, so is this what we deal with moving forward, Jon? Are we a changed nation that way?
Jon Liedtke: I don’t think so. I think that we need to have some moments of reflection upon this. There might need to be again, we know the Premier is going to be bringing forward the new powers and enshrining them in legislation. There might need to be legislation brought forward at the municipal, provincial, and federal level to be able to maybe quickly or more quickly prevent this from occurring again. These types of convoys obviously are able to easily come into town—I mean, it’s a vehicle, you can drive in, right?—and it can cause so much economic harm. And is this Canada moving forward? I don’t think so. I think that the vast majority of Canadians look at what occurred and are disgusted with it. Maybe some of the most vocal supporters—that’s the problem, right? Sometimes the smallest, loudest voice can carry a crowd and push things forward. But it doesn’t mean that they’re speaking for the majority of people. Now is this Canada moving forward? I suppose if we allow this to be Canada moving forward, that is the concern that I have.
Leah Hanson: Well, and we’re seeing evidence that people in Ottawa don’t want this to happen either. Thanks so much for being with us, Jon. Jon Liedtke heard here on AM800, of course, and co-host and producer of Rose City Politics podcast, you can check him out. He was down there all weekend.
This interview aired on AM800 CKLW
Find more of Jon Liedtke’s opinion and commentary on AM800 CKLW HERE
Leave a Reply